An End To What Never Happened
by Raisse of Gondor
Summary: On the night of Hogwarts doom, Hermione finds Draco Malfoy, and challenges him to a final wizarding duel... the only problem is, neither wants to kill the other. D/Hr with R/H too. Please review!


Title: An End To What Never Happened Author: Magical Magic Rating: PG Summary: A Draco Malfoy/Hermione Granger ficlet. Hermione finds Draco, and challenges him to a final wizarding duel.  
  
Authors Notes: Draco is very out of character here (in my opinion, anyways), so bear with me please. It could happen! This isn't one of those D/Hr sexual tension fictions, it's more of an angsty fairy-tale piece. I hope you like it - and in the end there is some Ron/Hermione for all you R/H shippers out there! =)  
  
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The night was still and silent. But Hermione's mind was anything but. She raced towards Hogwarts by way of the Forest. She had to get there, to Hogwarts, to help Ron and Harry, and everyone else. The Death Eaters were on the move, and Hogwarts was in danger. It was when she stumbled into a particular moonlit clearing, that everything changed.  
  
There he was. His dark robes swirling around him, his blonde hair unmistakably - well, blonde - in the silver moonlight. His arms were crossed, and he was leaned up against a tree. He looked almost normal. He looked almost handsome. Hermione halted, breathless, and he looked at her. It seemed he had expected her, perhaps.  
  
He was a Death Eater. Everyone knew it. Everyone hated him. Hermione was certain he had been sent to kill her, to stop her from helping her friends. She cautiously approached, ready to whip out her wand if necessary. But he made no move to attack her in any way. He only looked at her, in a very unsettling way, too, Hermione thought. It wasn't like the cruel, hate filled sneers she was used to. It wasn't a disgusted grimace, or even a superior gaze. He looked at openly, honestly, almost sadly.  
  
"Hello, Granger." He finally said, in an even, quiet voice, when she had stopped about ten paces off.  
  
"Malfoy." She answered, her voice low and cautious. The man and boy she had hated ever since she could remember. The one who could kill her in an instant - and yet, she didn't feel scared.  
  
"In a few minutes Hogwarts will be destroyed - there's nothing you can do to stop it." He said, knowing her purpose and destination.  
  
Hermione looked at him warily. She would have to get rid of him, stop him somehow. She needed to get to Hogwarts, and if he was going to get in her way, she would kill him. He must have sensed Hermione's stubborn resolve in her silence.  
  
"You'll be killed - stay away." He said, as if he could read her thoughts. He said it with a quiet urgency that held no lies. He stepped closer.  
  
"What would you care about my death?" Hermione snapped, as he came even closer. 'Don't let him get too close, don't let him get too close,' she repeated to herself, but she didn't move away as he came closer.  
  
"You'd be surprised." He breathed, now close enough to hit - or kiss. Unsure of what he meant, Hermione sucked her breath in, her stomach fluttering. All she could do was return his gaze and feel incredibly vulnerable. All she could hear was her own heartbeat and the sounds of his breathing. All she could feel was how close he stood to her, and a strange sense of want - but her head screamed no. 'Get away!' it said. 'Don't let him trick you!' but Hermione stood rooted to the spot  
  
Frightened of her own thoughts, and unsure of how to deal with them, she shook her head furiously and poked him hard with her index finger.  
  
"You're. you're nothing but a Death Eater, another one of Voldemort's servants - the only thing you've ever cared about is the Darkness!" her voice trembled.  
  
Malfoy took her hand in his and looked down at their hands.  
  
"Tsk, tsk, Granger. Always using anger as a shield. That's not true. I've cared about other things, too." He said this gently, all the while holding her hand.  
  
Hermione was frightened. Not of Malfoy, not of the Deatheaters. but of what she saw in his eyes, and what she felt deep down. Having him hold her hand felt incredibly strange. This wasn't the Malfoy she had known. How had he changed so much? And when? And why hadn't she noticed it?  
  
"Only a few things, though." he looked her directly in the eyes. Hermione shivered. His hand continued holding hers, and his free hand touched her chin gently. Draco slowly, excruciatingly slowly, neared.  
  
He was going to kiss her. And she let him.  
  
It was a simple kiss, a comforting and gentle kiss. The last sort of thing Hermione had ever expected from Draco Malfoy. And she kissed him back, which was the last thing she would ever had expected from herself. It was a thing that made her senses reel, her mind explode. The whole thing disgusted and thrilled her at the same time. She wanted to kiss him more, she wanted to push him away and slap him. Her heart said yes, her head said no.  
  
Her head won. Hermione, thoroughly shaken, pulled away from him and reached into her robes and brandished her wand, pointing it at him. She breathed hard, upset with herself, upset with him.  
  
If he cared for her, why had he always hurt her so much? If he cared for her, why hadn't he ever told her?  
  
He did nothing but stare at her, sorrow and longing in his eyes.  
  
"I don't believe you! You don't care about anything!" she cried. He was right about one thing. She used anger as a shield. 'Damn him,' she though silently. She could still taste him on her lips.  
  
He had to be lying. Everyone's words about Draco Malfoy, his betrayal, how he could never be trusted, how he should have never been allowed to attend Hogwarts - these warnings echoed in her mind. Telling her to be strong. To do what she needed to do.  
  
"How can I convince you?" he asked quietly.  
  
"Draw your wand!" Hermione shouted. She wanted him to be angry, to call her names, to hurt her. She could deal with that. She couldn't deal with this... with a Malfoy who cared, spoke softly, and kissed gently.  
  
Malfoy was silent, only looking at her for a few moments.  
  
"You've betrayed me, you've betrayed everyone! You're a coward and I hate you! Draw!" she cried, waving her wand around. She had gone mad, hadn't she? Everything was happening at once, everything was telling her to drop her wand and run away with him, but at the same time, everything said to kill him right there.  
  
"Hermione." he said it with great difficulty, his eyes downcast.  
  
Shocked and angered, Hermione jumped back, her wand trembling furiously in her hand. He had used her first name. He had never done that. He shouldn't be allowed to say her name. He shouldn't have dared. Hermione Granger would never let Draco Malfoy do such a thing. Never.  
  
"Don't you ever call me that! Draw your wand!" she screamed.  
  
A hint of a smile passed over Malfoy's face. A smile of remembrance.  
  
"I remember when I first met you, I knew I was going to hate you. I didn't know that I would end up caring so much."  
  
Hermione felt her breath coming in short gasps, her heart beating wildly. What was he saying? What did this all mean? Why wouldn't he just shut up and let her do her duty? The more he spoke and did, the less and less Hermione wanted to kill him. And now, he only gazed at her, his face so very different from the one she remembered him always wearing.  
  
"What. what do you mean?" she asked, attempting to keep her voice steady.  
  
"You know what I mean." He said simply.  
  
She looked at him a few moments. She knew what she had to do. She was ready to die. She took a deep breath, calm washing over her.  
  
"Draw your wand Draco Malfoy. One of us is going to die tonight." She said calmly. Her voice told him that this was the last time she would demand this.  
  
Draco looked at her a moment longer, his inner conflict apparent on his face. Then he drew his wand.  
  
"Abiego!" Hermione immediately cried, and a huge blue ball of light flew out of her wand at Malfoy.  
  
"Averto!" he shouted, and hit Hermione's curse with his wand, bouncing it harmlessly off and sending it flying into a tree.  
  
They slowly circled each other; the only sound was the sound of the wind and the trees. Draco made no move to throw any spells at her. He could defeat her easily, and they both knew it. Hermione figured that if she kept attacking him, he would eventually attack back. That was the way it should be, she thought wildly. If she was going to die, it should be for a good cause. It didn't matter if she died. who was she? Just Hermione Granger, know-it-all Mudblood. She hated that word. He had called her that many times. He had never apologized. Anger overcoming her mixed feelings towards Draco, Hermione thrust her wand forward.  
  
"Inflatus obnixe!" Hermione cast a powerful, crushing spell. It flew out of the end of her wand, towards Draco.  
  
To Hermione's horror, Draco dropped his wand, and raised his head high, letting the curse hit him. He fell with an awful thud. Hermione's eyes widened in disbelief as she cried out and flew to his side.  
  
Hermione knelt beside his dying form, and crying, cradled him. He breathed with great effort, his life slowly leaving him. Hermione hadn't meant to really kill him, or even hurt him! She had been sure he would kill her.  
  
"Why didn't you defend yourself?" she asked, no longer able to hide her tears from him.  
  
"I wanted you to believe me. and I want you to live, Granger."  
  
"Why didn't you block it? Why didn't you?" Hermione asked again, crying softly.  
  
Draco reached up slowly, and his fingers gently brushed against her cheek. His eyes shone up at her, and despite his shallow breaths and obviously decreasing strength, he smiled.  
  
"I could have really cared for you. I could have loved you. I think maybe I did..."  
  
Hermione could only say his name.  
  
"Draco."  
  
As she said his name, she could see his life leaving his eyes.  
  
"I'm. sorry. for. calling. Mudblood!" he gasped with his last breath. His eyes glazed over, and he went limp in her arms.  
  
Hermione cried openly, harder than she had ever cried before. Here, in her arms, a man so changed and different - and she had lost him. A man who could have been hers, maybe. A man who could have changed even more.  
  
Hermione screamed, forgetting all else except her confusion, pain. and Draco.  
  
"I didn't mean to. I didn't mean to." she repeated over and over.  
  
Hermione lost track of time, as she sat there. Finally, the tears left her face. A deep numbness came over her. This was the way everything was meant to be, wasn't it? It all seemed like a dream. It was too unreal to have ever happened. She would wake up to a scornful Malfoy the next day. But it was real. And what was worse, she knew it.  
  
"Hermione!" a voice startled her. Who was calling her?  
  
"Where are you, Hermione?" it was Ron, she recognized his voice. Hermione hurridly stood, and rubbed her eyes furiously, picked up her wand, and took a deep breath. No one would ever know what happened between herself and Draco, not if she could help it.  
  
"I'm here!" she cried out. A few shout-filled minutes later, Ron, dear Ron, burst into the clearing, panting, dirty, but alive.  
  
Hermione ran to him and hugged him, tighter than she ever had before. She couldn't stop herself from crying. Ron patted her gently for a few moments, before drawing back and touching her chin gently.  
  
"Are you okay?" Before giving her a chance to answer, Ron's eyes fell on Malfoy's fallen form. "Whoa! Did you.?"  
  
"Yes."  
  
"I'm sorry you had to do that Hermione." He said softly. Hermione looked at Ron sadly. He thought she was just shaken up because she had killed someone. His eyes shone at her, much as Draco's had before.  
  
"Come on. Let's go home. Harry's waiting. Everything's okay now." Ron held out his hand to Hermione. She took it. With a final look back at the fallen Draco, Hermione left, with only memories to take with her.  
  
The End.  
  
If you liked it, hated it, or read through it, please give me a review and let me know what you liked/disliked! =) 


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